2012/05/30

Kisha Club (Reporters Club) reserve the places with business cards: "Every company does it"

Even when there's no reporter coming to the conference, "the notebook list of companies names" allege the appropriation of the seats. = May 28 at NAIIC at Members' office building of House of Councillors of Japan

I'm fed up with the preposterous thing that Kisha Club (Reporters Club) monopolizing the seats at the press conferences is still allowed today. They just put memo pad with their company name and their business card on the seats so that the reporters out of their companies can't have any seat.

Yesterday at the National Diet of Japan fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC) held at Member's office building of House of Councillors of Japan, we could see the odiousness scene. A reporter from Yomiuri Shimbun (Yomiuri Journal) put memo pads (on the photo above) with their company's name on 7 seats and monopolized the places from where we could see the face of witness Naoto Kan. Takashi Uesugi and me went to see the reporter and protested: "isn't it against the rule"? The press conference was not organized by the Reporter's Club but it was an open committee meeting in which citizens had the right to observe the court proceedings. The reporter of Yomiuri Shimbun (on the photo below) was quite unabashed and answered sneeringly: "Every company does it". It's a special privilege for reporters club to take the seats.

Commencing with the freelance journalists, all the reporters not involved in Kisha club have to wait outside the gate until the starting time of reception for press conference. But Kisha Club's reporters can enter whenever they want with their all-powerful card called "Testament of reporters of The National Diet". Young Kisha Club reporters and casual staff put the business card and Memo pad with their company's name on the seats and Senior Kisha Club reporters arrive just before the conference starts. "Its honesty doesn't pay, isn't it?" I pressed the reporter of Yomiuri Shimbun again. The reporter repeated: "Every newspaper publisher does so. "He kept a haughty smile on his face. He is not ashamed of doing it consulting a source of common sense in this world.

The place from where we can see the witness face were Yomiuri Shimbun's special seats : Photo by Ryusaku Tanaka

Latery Kisha Club reporters started to exchange their business cards with me. Before, even if an freelance journalist give their name card, Kisha Club reporters refused to give their business card saying: "Ah, my business cards run out at the moment". But to take the seat they do have their cards. In every conference room, number of seats are limited. But still they do seat settings.The reporters who waited for long time always get hardship for the conference, they always have to take standing room. It's truly "common sense in the world is lack of common sense for Kisha Club, Lack in common sense for world is common sense for Kisha Club." And yet this is the act of the reporters who talk about social justice.

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We are a Japanese collective who doesn't agree with what is happening in Japan. We've been thinking of how cruel world can be since Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident. Media is hiding vital informations, nobody cares about what is happening.

We decided to translate articles in English as volunteers although we are not native English speakers neither professional translators nor journalists. We particularly translate articles from freelance journalists, bloggers, activists we trust and articles we read in everyday life. We also write the voice of people in Japan about what they really live after the accident in their everyday lifes.

Ms.Mika Noro who has been working for children in Chernobyl says that real hell didn't started yet. We are afraid that many people in Japan will get sick from radiations exposure…

We think the problem of nuclear industry concern us all. And unfortunately the accident of Fukushima Daiichi concerns all living creatures on this earth… We are truly ashamed of our government and Tepco hiding important informations. They are killing us for economical reasons. We want people from all over the world to read articles written in Japanese hoping there will be public opinions about this catastrophe outside of Japan.